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“Los mareados” is one of the most famous tango songs of all times. The version we know today was written in 1942 by Enrique Cadícamo, at the request of Anibal Troilo, to the music of Juan Carlos Cobián.

One day in 1942, as he was beginning to perform with his orchestra at the cabaret Tibidabo, Anibal Troilo came to Enrique Cadícamo with an old instrumental recording by Osvaldo Fresedo. It was a 1922 recording of a tango by Juan Carlos Cobián entitled “Los dopados”. Troilo felt strongly inspired to rearrange and present it as soon as possible and he wanted Cadícamo to write the lyrics for him.

Cadícamo says he hesitated at first because the composer Juan Carlos Cobián was away in Mexico and had not given his consent for the project, but Troilo convinced him that it would be a winning situation for everyone if “Los dopados” resurfaced twenty years later as a hit. Cadícamo agreed to write the lyrics and changed the title to “Los mareados”.

Shortly after, the new song was premiered at the Tibidabo by the orchestra of Anibal Troilo with Roberto Fiorentino. “Los mareados” became one of Troilo’s greatest hits and the recording they made on June 15, 1942, remains among the great classics of the golden age.

When Juan Carlos Cobián returned to Argentina he could only be pleased to find his music was in vogue, but what Troilo and Cadícamo apparently didn’t know is that “Los Dopados” already had registered lyrics by Raul Doblas and Alberto Weisbach.

Drink the forgiveness which isare offered to you, which calms your soul, so you can, numbed, love, drink and laugh…

Go for the sad illusion of the vice, drink the forgiveness in its poison, and if drinking makes you forget, let that be your greatest happiness.

“Los Dopados” by Juan Carlos Cobian, Raul Doblas and Alberto Weisbach had been composed in 1922 for a play which was presented at the Teatro Porteño.It was recorded in 1923 by Roberto Diaz with the original lyrics and by Osvaldo Fresedo in instrumental version. Though “Los Mareados” are now one of the most famous Argentine songs of all times, the original lyrics by Doblas-Weisbach have fallen into oblivion.

In 1943, “Los Mareados” was banned by the new military government along with many other tangos which contain lunfardo terms or allusions to drunkness. Cadícamo wrote a new version entitled “En mi pasado”, which in spite of its beauty, and like many other pieces which were rewritten at that time, was hardly ever used or recorded.

When the prohibition was lifted in 1949, “Los Mareados” gained back its popularity. Since then it has been recorded by countless artists of all styles including Hector Mauré, Floreal Ruiz, Suzana Rinaldi, Raul Lavié, Astor Piazzolla, Mercedes Sosa with Roberto Goyeneche, Adriana Varela and pop singer Andrés Calamaro.

“Garua” is a 1943 tango by Anibal Troilo and Enrique Cadícamo. It was recorded by Troilo with Francisco Fiorentino for the label RCA Victor on august 4, 1943. Two days later, Pedro Laurenz recorded his own version with Alberto Podestá under the label Odeon.

“Garua” is the second of 3 tangos composed by Anibal Troilo with the lyrics of Enrique Cadicamo, the other two other being “Pa’ que bailen los muchachos” (1942) and “Naipe” (1944). According to Cadícamo, Troilo presented the music to him one night at the Tibidabo and asked if he could write the lyrics. As he walked home that night there was a very light rain or drizzle falling over him and this is where he conceived the first verses of his famous tango. [1]

Drizzle! Sad and lonely by the sidewalk, goes this hear striken with the sadness of an abandoned house.

Garua is a lunfardo term of Quechua origin which translates to “drizzle”. [4] The rains is a recurrent theme in tango and has been evoked directly or indirectly in many other pieces such as “El café de Los Angelitos”, “El ultimo café”, “Charlemos”, “Tarde gris”, and “La noche que te fuiste” as a symbol of loneliness.

It wasn’t long after that night when he walked back home under the drizzele that Cadícamo came back to el Tibidabo with “Garua” and just a few days later Troilo was rehearsing with Francisco Fiorentino.

The 1953 recording by Troilo and Fiorentino was followed by another one in 1962 by Troilo and Roberto Goyeneche who recorded two other versions with Raul Garello and Astor Piazzolla. Other well known interpretations of “Garua” include those of Hugo del Carril and Adriana Varela.

“La ultima curda” is one of the last great poems of the golden age of tango. It was written in 1956 by Catúlo Castillo to the music of Anibal Troilo. It tells the story of a deeply disillusioned man, talking to a bandoneon about the futility of life and the profound emotions he feels at the sound of a tango.

Curda is a lunfardo term which means “drunkenness” or “inebriation”; thus La ultima curda would translate as “the last inebriation”. It is the third of a series of tangos which presents the bandoneon as a living character and friend of the lonely man in the style of “Che bandoneon” by Homero Manzi. It also resonates with the work of Enrique Discepolo as it takes tango poetry to the deepest level and ultimate apogee of existentialism.

I know, no need to say! You are right! Life is an absurd wound, and everything is so ephemeral that it’s as good as getting drunk to even bother telling my story (talking to the bandoneon).

In his memoirs, Roberto Rivero remembers a beautiful summer evening when they were rehearsing “La ultima curda” in Troilo’s apartment on Parana street, near Avenida Corrientes and the cabaret Chanteclerc. They were making the last arrangements when they noticed a crowd was amassed in the street, interrupting the late night traffic, so they went out on the balcony and performed “La ultima curda” for the first time in public. It was such a magical night it felt a bit strange to sing “life is an absurd wound”, said Rivero in “Una luz de almacen”.

“La ultima curda” was recorded for the first time in 1956 by Anibal Troilo with Edmundo Rivero for the label TK. It became a classic of Troilo’s repertoire; he recorded another version with Goyeneche in 1963, followed by an in instrumental version in 1969. Both Roberto Goyeneche and Edmundo Rivero kept the song in their repertoire as well and recorded it many times over.

Tango is a musical genre and a type of social dance which emerged in the port cities of Buenos Aires and Montevideo towards the end of the 19th century. It is the result of a fusion between elements of African, European and local origin brought together by different waves of immigration.

Little is known about the exact circumstances in which tango emerged but the musical styles which came into the creation of tango include milonga, habanera, candombe, tango andaluz, mazurca and polka. Choreographically, tango adopted the controversial close embrace of waltz and was characterized in the early stages by the emblematic “cortes” and “quebradas“, whereas tango poetry, which emerged and developed later, built on the gaucho tradition of payadores and evolved into a new style of song which expresses urban concerns and realities of life in a fast growing city.

The history of tango is complex; it includes various phases of evolution and waves of popularity around the world. According to Horacio Ferrer [1] and the Academia nacional del tango it can be divided in six stages: